Sword Art Online III: Asgard
by shanejayell
Summary: ALO has opened a new territory to explore: Asgard! Added SAO Shorts!
1. Prelude

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Sword Art Online, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. Don't sue me, I'm really really broke. This divergence takes into account events up until Mother's Rosario, and ignores Alicization as it hasn't got a North American release.

Sword Art Online III: Asgard

Introduction

Alfheim Online was a unusual, and in some ways dangerously flawed creation.

Created by RECT Progress Inc under the direction of Sugou Nobuyuki, Alfheim Online was supposed to be a MMORPG, in which characters attempted to reach the top of the World Tree to meet the Fairy King Oberon and be transformed into ALFs, with the power of unlimited flight. However that was a lie, and the top of the World Tree was in fact a lab where Sugou experimented on captives taken from Sword Art Online.

(The World Tree stirs. Where once it merely stood, branches swaying slightly in simulated breeze, it begins to grow. Fed by the waters once denied to it in Jotunheimr, it reaches up, straining.)

After Sugou's criminal activities were discovered the game development elements of RECT went out of business, and the ALO servers and game were bought up by a group of ALO players and investors. They successfully restarted the game as well as attempted to 'patch' it to fix the flaws introduced by Sugou, including his lab. They erased the lab and replaced it with Yggdrasil City, as well as introducing other changes.

(The floating castle of Aincrad circles the World Tree. Once part of Sword Art Online, it was restored by Ymir, the company now running ALO. If you stood at the edge of one of Aincrad's floors and looked up at the Tree, you would have seen the glowing lights of Alne at the base of the Tree, and Yggdrasil at the top.)

After Sugou's defeat, the basic game engine of SAO and ALO was released to the internet. With the built in editor and a computer with enough processing power, a creator could build from scratch any virtual world they wanted. Soon hundreds of new game worlds cropped up, all running on the same program. But the system that ran those games was subtly different that that of SAO and ALO.

(Those in Yggdrasil felt something odd, but couldn't quite explain it. Agil paused in bargaining with a customer as he felt the floor shiver slightly, then looked around curiously. In another part of the city Lizbeth finished hammering a new blade, nodding in satisfaction. As she hung it on the wall, she too felt... something off, but couldn't say what it was.)

SAO was governed by a powerful, self monitoring system called Cardinal. That same system was copied over to run ALO, but unlike in SAO it was implemented improperly. Cardinal, in ALO, was now creating new quests on it's own, building NPCs and in one case, very nearly wiped out the game itself. Only the heroic actions of Kirito and others successfully completed a quest and prevented Ragnarok.

(Above Yggdrasil, in the upper branches of the World Tree, a light began to shine. As the branches reached up and enfolded it the light grew brighter, as the Tree formed a sturdy base for what was forming. Out of the light a mighty island descended, as the world looked on in awe.)

The Cardinal system had introduced the latest addition to ALO.

ASGARD was here...

To be continued...

Notes: Trying to explain why a new section of the game could just appear out of nowhere. Concepts from Asgard have already appeared in game during the Calibur story, so it's not unprecedented. Because ALO has not consistently adapted Norse mythology, I too will likely adapt concepts loosely in this story.


	2. SAO Shorts! Memories

Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from Sword Art Online, I'm only borrowing them for awhile. Don't sue me, I'm really really broke.

Sword Art Online: Memory

Kirito walked with his girlfriend, the young man in black smiling at Asuna. They had defeated SAO, won against Oberon and after other trials they were, finally, together. Everything was perfect.

"Kirito-kun, I'm so happy we're together again," Asuna smiled, holding his hand.

"Me, too, Asuna," he agreed, the two standing close together.

"Oh Kirito," Asuna leaned close, puckering her lips...

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

With a start, someone stepping on him jarred Kirito from his pleasant dream.

Wounded and dying Kirito lay on the floor of the First Floor boss chamber. He had gotten unlucky, missed a dodge and took a devastating hit. Worse he thought there was a poison effect added, and his life was nearly gone. Players rushed by him to fight, unaware of his dire straights. Worse, he'd been such a ass as a beta tester no one really WANTED to save him.

As he began to break up into pixels, Kirito closed his eyes, willing himself to dream again. At least in the dream, he was a winner...

End

Notes: Yeah, drabble based on the idea that ALL of SAO in in fact a dream Kirito has while dying. It would certainly explain how much of a Mary Sue he can be, and so on.


	3. Chapter 1

Sword Art Online III: Asgard

One

Word spread fast through the gaming community. ALO was a popular game, with lots of players, and everyone who witnessed the new section opening called their friends. Those friends also spread the word, as well as posting on online bulletin boards and so on, and soon everyone had at least heard about it.

Kazuto Kirigaya (often known as Kirito) hurried down the hall towards the school cafeteria, bento in hand. However he wasn't much concerned with lunch, instead he was headed to a informal meeting of several friends who were also players of ALO.

Rika Shinozaki (Lisbeth) looked up with a cheery smile, the brown haired cute girl sipping her drink. "We're still waiting on Asuna," she told him.

Keiko Ayano (Silica) smiled up at him shyly, "Hello, Kazuto. Were you online when the new section opened?"

"No," Kazuto sighed, "Had homework. The forum posts about it alerted me..."

"It was pretty spectacular," Rika said. "It was like the sky opened up, then the island appeared and settled down atop the World Tree," she said eagerly.

"Hmm," Kazuto nodded, "I looked it up. That's sort of the Marvel Comics version of Asgard. Wonder if that will reflect on how that section plays?"

Both Rika and Keiko were giving him a odd look.

"What?" Kazuto asked.

"Do you have no poetry in your soul?" Rika had to ask. "I was describing a gloriously designed sequence and all you're concerned about is game-play mechanics?"

"Well, that's Kirito for you," Keiko said dryly.

Before he could try to defend himself Asuka Yuuki hurried in, the brown haired young woman smiling impishly. "You KNOW he has no soul, just a game CPU," she teased.

"Gee, thanks," Kazuto sighed.

Rika and Keiko giggled as Asuna settled down beside Kazuto. "I struck out on getting inside info, but Agil is shaking down contacts he has at Ymir. He said he'd mail us once he hears something," she told them.

"Thanks," Kazuto smiled at her, his eyes going more tender than usual.

"Do NOT get lovey dovey at school, please," Rika rolled her eyes.

Both jerked apart a bit, looking sheepish.

"So how do you get into the Asgard region?" Keiko asked curiously.

"There's a new dungeon level that is a stairway that connects Yggdrasil to Asgard," Asuna revealed, "and it looks to be very, very tough."

"Oh?" Kazuto asked. He liked tough dungeons, generally speaking. At least when it wasn't actual life or death stakes anyway.

"Yeah, a group of mid-level players rushed in, hoping to get the jump on exploring the dungeon and getting any new items there," Rika nodded, "two rooms in, they hit something called Rock Trolls. High armor, high hit points."

"The whole party got wiped out, though some of that was they rushed in without preparing," Asuna pointed out.

"Not enough magic restoration and healing potions," Keiko nodded wisely, despite being the youngest one there. On the other hand she too was a veteran of SAO, and that tended to make you grow up a lot very quickly.

"It's been half a day," Kazuto noted, thinking of several aggressive players he knew in ALO, "someone has to have made some progress..."

"Not a lot," Rika shook her head, "people are sharing into, but they haven't even mapped the first floor yet, and I can bet you there's more than a couple of floors."

Everyone looked thoughtful at that. This resembled the dungeons that connected floors on Aincrad, and you needed to fight up several levels before reaching a Boss room. You won there, the doors opened to the next floor.

"Do you think there will be a floor boss?" Keiko asked what everyone was wondering about. And worrying over too.

"There's almost always a boss monster at the end of quests in both Aincrad and Alfheim, so yeah I think we can bet on it," Asuna nodded.

"So," Rika looked at Kazuto, "when are we going to go take this dungeon on?"

"What makes you think I want us to do that?" Kazuto tried to sound like he really didn't care about it at all.

EVERYONE just gave him a look.

"Okay, yes," Kazuto conceded, "I'd like to at least try. Why don't we try to get together one or even two parties, and see if we can go this weekend?"

"Start Friday night and see how far we can get by Sunday?" Asuna asked, having developed a good idea for how Kazuto's mind worked.

"And that gives us a few more days to do research too," Rika nodded. "There was no announcement at all from Ymir that this Asgard module was coming, and they're usually pretty good about doing that."

"It is odd," Kazuto agreed, "maybe Agil can find out what's happening." Before anyone else could say anything the warning bell rang, and they broke up to head back to classes.

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Several weeks earlier...

Logging in to ALfheim Online and creating a character had all been pretty simple, really. Her difficulties had more been in acquiring a Amu-sphere without anyone knowing (she had a reputation to maintain after all) and finding the time to actually play it.

Her employer was a little surprised she asked to reduce her work load a bit, but even he acknowledged she had been working exceptionally hard. (Which caused a pang of guilt, tho she didn't show it. Guilty over leaving her work, but also guilt over how badly she had let work outweigh everything else in her life.)

Her office, thankfully, was private and had a door that could be locked. She set up the amu-sphere connections there, and the room got remarkably good internet connection. With some nervousness she had reclined in her leather chair, put the headset on and vocalized "Link start!"

Youko looked around her, taking in the vivid scenery as the redhead stood beneath the trees. Alfheim was certainly a vivid place, just like she remembered from her first log in. The red armored Salamander gestured to make the flight controller to appear, then took to the skies.

So far, Youko had stuck to areas near the capital of their territory, Gattan. She was still getting used to her long sword and round shield, and the monsters around the city were fairly low level. But she had progressed far enough to face tougher monsters. Besides, she had to meet her senpai at Alne...

On the way across the deserts in the Salamander territory she had a few monster encounters, all of which dropped money and in one case a item, and without much trouble she made it to the city, dropping down to the gate as she saw a familiar figure.

"Klein-san!" she called, smiling.

"Hey, Youko-san! Have you decided to marry me yet?" the young man teased.

"Not in a million years," she winked, clouting him on the shoulder.

Klein laughed, "So cruel. So, are you ready to master flight without the controller? You'd have a easier time in aerial fighting."

Youko put her hands on her hips. "You are going to insist I learn it, aren't you senpai?" she asked, sighing.

Klein scratched his head, "Well, I know a couple of players who manage with the controller, but it really is much harder to play." He shrugged, "And really, don't you want to feel what it's like to fly free?" He blinked as the oddest look crossed her face. 'Did I say something wrong?' he wondered.

"Always," she murmured. Youko shook herself and smiled, "Teach me, senpai."

"Alright!" Klein grinned. "Okay, extend your wings. Not try to imagine virtual muscles connecting to your wings." He watched the wings quiver and nodded, impressed by how fast she was getting it. "Now focus harder, harder..."

With that he pushed her, HARD. "Aeeiii!" Youko screamed as she was launched skyward by the power of her buzzing wings.

"Way to go!" Klein cheered.

"HOW DO I STOOOOP," Youko wailed.

With a laugh Klein took off to intercept her, and soon had her flying under some degree of control. "See, nothing to it," he congratulated her.

"You will pay for that later," Youko vowed, but was clearly enjoying flying.

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Good afternoon, Kazuto-kun," Kathy smiled as he entered the Dicey Cafe.

"Hello, Kathy," Kazuto waved back a bit nervously. He liked her, but he got the sense she kind of resented the SAO players who were constantly hanging around her husband.

"Andrew went out for a errand, but he'll be back soon," Kathy reassured him.

"Thanks," Kazuto said. He ordered a soda, paid, then waited at a table, opening his laptop and doing some homework while he waited.

Not long after Andrew Mills (Agil) hurried in, carrying a grocery bag. "Hey Kazuto. Let me just drop these off," he said.

"Thank you, dear," Kathy smiled, taking the bags and going in the back.

"Thanks for seeing me," Kazuto smiled slightly. Somewhat more seriously he asked, "Did anyone at Ymir get back to you on this Asgard thing?"

"Apparently they didn't introduce the Asgard module, the system did," Andrew said grimly.

"What." Kazuto blinked.

"The programers were developing the Asgard module, but were only part done," Andrew revealed, "somehow, it added itself in."

It took Kazuko only a moment to get it, "The Cardinal System."

"Yeah. Apparently it decided the programers were taking too long and added the module itself. And apparently completed it," Andrew added.

"And who knows what elements Cardinal stuck in on it's own?" Kazuto wondered aloud, shaking his head. The last time Cardinal had gotten 'creative' it had introduced a quest that, if they failed, would have triggered Ragnarok and ended ALO. "We need to get into that section fast, before something bad happens," Kazuto noted.

"One other thing," Andrew added, "The developers at Ymir noted that the Cardinal system also accessed a LOT of data from the old SAO server when it set Asgard up. Could be we'll be facing a greatest hits of SAO villains in Asgard."

"Even better..." Kazuto sighed.

To be continued...

Notes: Youko is NOT a original character, she's a existing character from the series who's chosing to game for the first time. I THINK I dropped enough hints that it's pretty obvious who she is, but if not I'll reveal it in a few chapters.


	4. Chapter 2

Sword Art Online III: Asgard

Two

Suguha Kirigaya was very, very glad it was Friday. The black haired young woman was, of course, looking forward to it being the weekend, AND she and her friends were getting ready to do a long campaign in Alfheim Online. Her school bag and practice sword thumped against her back as she hurried off.

As she left the campus Suguha felt a faint pang as she knew they would be going out without Recon. Her friend and classmate had joined ALO with her, but he'd never quite mastered the game. Not long after they had helped Kirito rescue Asuna, she had flat out told him that she wasn't interested in him romantically.

Not long after he had started showing up less, and ultimately stopped playing ALO. He had, amusingly, switched to Gun Gale Online, and they had ended up discussing Kirito's adventures over in that game too. At least, from what she could tell, he seemed happier over there. He had really never enjoyed flying in ALO...

Suguha shook her head. Despite her being clear about her feelings, he had decided to chase her, and he had decided to leave once they 'broke up.' It wasn't her fault, she reminded herself firmly.

"I'm home!" she called out as Suguha went inside their house. Mom was probably still at work at the tech magazine, but her brother should have got there already.

"Welcome back," the familiar voice called from the kitchen.

Suguha dropped her stuff off in her room then walked into the kitchen where she saw Kazuto making up some sandwiches for them. It was very house-wify of him, and she was tempted to joke but restrained herself.

"How was school?" Suguha asked as she got a drink carton from the fridge.

"Not bad." Kazuto admitted. "Not too much homework this weekend, thankfully."

"We'll get together at your and Asuna's house if we need to do a study group," Suguha noted, glad she only felt a slight twinge at that. She was, gradually, accepting that she had lost to Asuna over her brother... well, sort of accepting She still got jealous, but...

"Right," Kazuto sighed.

Suguha giggled as she reminded him, "If you want to be a programmer and Full Dive expert, you're going to have to study, too."

"I know, I know," Kazuto nodded. Changing the subject he said, "We're going to go meet up at the usual inn in Yggdrasil City, get organized there."

"I talked to my friend Lux, she'd like to join us," Suguha said, referring to a friend she, Silica and Lisbeth adventured with.

"Yeah," Kazuto said, "and Klein said he had a player he was working with who might want to go along." He looked thoughtful, "Depending on how many players actually show up, we might break into two parties."

"Might be a good idea to have the extra people," Suguha agreed, "I heard two high experience parties tried it and got beat too."

"Eugene?" Kazuto wondered, naming the second in command of the Salamanders and, arguably, the strongest player in ALO.

"Not yet. I've heard he wants to organize a full on expedition," Suguha nodded.

"Hopefully we can get in there before they do...," Kazuto mused thoughtfully.

"You just want any exclusive gear that comes up," Suguha teased him, remembering how he had reacted to discovering Excalibur's location.

"Heh," Kazuto looked sheepish.

They ate, then hurried up to their rooms. Suguha stripped down to bra and panties, then lay back on her bed and put the Amu-sphere on. (Some people dove nude, finding clothes too restrictive. Personally, Suguha was more worried about something going wrong in real life... or worse someone walking in on her.)

"Link Start!" Suguha declared.

Leafa smiled as she took a breath of air, the green clad blonde smiling cheerfully. Beside her Kirito had appeared, and he called out, "Hey, Yui!"

Out of the air the little black haired sprite appeared, cheerily exclaiming, "Papa! You're back!"

Leafa watched with amusement as the little sprite settled on Kirito's head. They caught up, talking cheerfully, even as Leafa looked up at the new island floating up above the city.

"Hey, Kirito?" Leafa asked thoughtfully.

"Yeah?" Kirito asked.

"Has anyone actually tried just flying up there?" Leafa mused aloud. She smiled, "Hold on, I want to test this..."

With that Leafa took off, her wings shimmering in the afternoon light. She LOVED flying. If there was no other reason to play ALO, she would still come just for the chance to soar across the skies. And it was even better now that they no longer had the same limits on flight.

Leafa soared up to the island of Asgard... only to see it pull away from her, somehow. "Huh?" Leafa blinked, then poured on the speed. She was one of the fastest fliers in the game... she could leave any other player in the dust... but SOMEHOW the island stayed just out of reach. Then when Leafa stopped chasing it the island sprung back to appearing relatively near. It was deeply frustrating! With a growl Leafa descended to the city and headed for the meeting place.

"Bwa ha ha ha!" Lisbeth chortled on hearing the story, the blacksmith having joined Kirito at the Inn.

"Please don't have so much fun with this," Leafa sighed.

Kirito patted her on the arm, the black clad Spriggan looking amused. "I wonder why they didn't just put a barrier up, like they did in ALO earlier?" he wondered.

"Like how they blocked off the top of the World Tree before," Leafa nodded thoughtfully, having watched Kirito literally bounce off that wall a couple of times.

"I guess Cardinal isn't letting us get away with short-cuts," Liz noted.

Before another comment could be made Asuna strode in, the attractive undine smiling at her friends warmly. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized, "mother's staying late at work and I wanted to make sure dinner would be okay until she got back."

"No problem," Liz said.

Asuna and Kirito sat side by side, as usual, and Leafa firmly stomped down on any jealousy. They were a couple, and she was TOTALLY okay with that. Damn it.

 **0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Silica hurried down the path towards the traveler's inn at Yggdrasil city. They COULD have met at Asuna and Kirito's house, of course, but she wasn't sure if Lux had been there yet. And honestly, having everyone crash their home all the time was a bit rude...

As she neared the inn, she slowed down as she saw two figures talking outside, one she recognized, one she didn't.

"Klein, I'm still not sure this is a good idea," the pretty woman addressed him.

The redhead was a Salamander, like Klein, and had short, red hair. She wore a round shield strapped to her left arm, and had a one handed long sword over her shoulder. She looked capable, and gave a impression of maturity.

"You're a solid, mid-experience adventurer," Klein answered patiently, "and you have skills we could use, Youko."

"Oh?" Youko looked skeptical.

Klein shrugged, "In addition to actually being a good fighter, you've worked on healing and buff magics. Our group has maybe two members who do that at all."

Youko snorted in amusement. "All right, I'd be willing to do that," she admitted, "but I want the opportunity to fight, too."

"No problem," Klein reassured her.

"And I reserve the right to decide this was a bad idea and leave at any time," Youko added pointedly.

"Yeah, yeah," Klein agreed. He looked up, "Hey, Silica! Sorry to block the way."

Silica flushed a bit and advanced on the two of them. "Hello, Klein. Are you going on this raid too?" she asked politely.

"Yup. Gonna be a lot of fun," Klein agreed. He gestured to the woman beside him, "Silica, met Youko. Youko, this is Silica, a veteran gamer who you should look to for advice."

"Klein!" Silica yelped, blushing.

Youko bit back a chuckle. "Nice to meet you," she smiled slightly coolly.

"Just ignore him when he says things like that," Silica added as they headed inside.

"I already do," Youko teased.

"Oh, here I am trying to pass on my hard earned wisdom..." Klein lamented.

Silica kind of tuned him out as she scanned the busy inn and found the table their friends were at. "Hey, everyone!" she beamed as she hurried over.

Lux beamed, the attractive blonde sitting by the equally attractive Leafa. It was really annoying how curvy both girls were, but Silica expected she'd grow out eventually. She hoped. Lisbeth waved her over, and Silica settled in beside them.

"Oh I am SO excited!" Lux said, nearly bouncing in her seat. Lux had been a real Kirito fangirl, and had even designed her first ALO avatar after him, calling herself 'Kuro.' She had gotten over that, but she clearly was nearly peeing herself with excitement being here in the same room with him.

"Relax," Leafa said to her with a wink, "big brother puts his pants on one leg a time, just like everyone else."

"I know, but..." Lux shrugged helplessly.

Scanning the room Silica saw Kirito, Asuna and Leafa, Lisbeth, Lux, Klein, herself and the new woman Klein brought, Youko. Speaking of...

"Kirito, everyone, this is my kohai I was talking about," Klein gestured to the tall-ish redheaded woman in armor, a shield strapped to her arm, 'Youko. She's new, but skilled."

There was the oddest look on her face as she saw Asuna, but she quickly switched back to bland neutrality. "I hope we can work well together," Youko said, smiling faintly.

"Welcome," Kirito started, when Yui suddenly popped up, the little sprite buzzing Youko curiously.

Silica wondered if she'd be one of the people who were startled by Yui, or just go 'She's so cute!'

"So cute!" Yoko murmured.

'Ha.' Silica smiled.

To be continued...

Notes: Will try to jump back to Youko's POV next chapter, or possibly Asuna's. Depends on what I plan to do. Sinon will turn up next chapter too, and maybe Agil.


	5. SAO Shorts! Akihiko Kayaba was a Dick

Sword Art Online: Akihiko Kayaba was a dick.

"Akihiko Kayaba was a dick." Sinon resolved at one point.

"That's a little harsh..." Kirito said mildly.

They were gathered at Asuna and Kirito's cabin in Aincrad, relaxing as a group after having helped clear another floor. Silica and Klein were hanging out too, while the rest of the raiding party had dispersed.

As Asuna brought in some snacks she noted, "Now, now Kirito. We all know you admire him, but he did some horrible things."

"Yeah," Klein agreed.

Silica looked curious, "In what way was he a dick?"

Sinon scowled. "He made it impossible to fight long distance! All the Sword Skills and such require you to be in killing distance from the monsters. Not to mention the monsters getting area attacks. AND he didn't include bows!"

Clearly the last bit was what really irritated the sniper. Still...

"She's got a point," Klein agreed...

To be continued...?

Note: Yeah, couldn't figure out a bit to work this in my OTHER SAO fic.


	6. Chapter 3

Sword Art Online III: Asgard

Three

Asuna sipped her drink as she tried not to look at Youko too much. There was something about her that was oddly familiar to the Undine fencer, but she couldn't quite place it. "Is Agil coming?" she asked Kirito, knowing that Andrew hadn't been sure he could come due to work.

"He's not going to be able to make it, but he said he was sending a friend to give us what information they have," Kirito noted.

"Hey, Kirito, is it true that the Cardinal System created this new Asgard zone?" Klein asked him a bit anxiously.

"As I understand it, the System took something that was in development, finished it and then introduced it to the game, according to the guys at Ymir," Kirito said.

"That's just...," Lux shook her head in disbelief, the pretty blond sitting by Leafa.

As they processed that a figure slipped in the inn, moving through the crowd concealed by a long tan cloak. She slipped up behind Kirito and smiled, "Hey, Boya. Been awhile."

Kirito yelped, then whirled around in surprise. "Argo?!" he yelped.

Argo the Rat, the infamous Information Broker of Aincrad, smiled up at him, her usual 'whiskers' painted on her cheeks. Her sandy blond hair fell into her eyes, and she was outfitted in light armor, much like her SAO character build.

"Hey," Asuna hugged her, smiling warmly. Argo also got cheerful if wary greetings from Klein, Silica and Lisbeth, while Leafa, Lux, the just arrived Sinon and Youko wondered what was going on.

Seeing their confusion Silica explain, "Argo was one of our comrades in Sword Art Online. She was with us the whole time, but I thought she quit gaming after we defeated Heathcliff."

"Ah!" Leafa nodded in understanding.

Argo sat at the table by Kirito, with Asuna on his other side. Asuna leaned forward as she asked, "Where have you been, Argo? Not that I'm not happy to see you back..."

"Ten thousand yrd," Argo quoted her usual price for personal information.

Not even missing a beat Asuna got the coin from her inventory and passed it over. "Talk," she said firmly.

"I didn't know you cared, Asuna," Argo noted wryly as she rolled the coin over her fingers before making it disappear. "After I woke up, and recovered enough," she said, referring to the physio therapy everyone who spent two years in VR had to go through, "I went back to college to try to salvage my journalism degree."

"You're in college?" Klein blinked.

"I TOLD you I was older," Argo smirked. "And to be honest I wasn't interested in trying out the Amu Sphere system until I was DAMN sure it was safe and stable. After Sword Art Online, I was gun-shy, I'll admit it."

"Understandable," Kirito admitted. Well, he was a hard core gamer, so he probably would have ended going back to playing VR games eventually, himself. But Asuna being in trouble had sped up the process considerably.

"Anyway," Argo waved that off, "I'm back now, and will be going back into information dealing and such. Hence why I'm here."

"Agil sent you?" Leafa realized.

"With a briefing on what we know so far on Asgard from Ymir along with the attempts so far to beat it," Argo agreed. She leaned forward, "Agil wasn't able to get lot of concrete information from Ymir, but we know the dungeon leading to Asgard is four floors and a boss chamber."

"And some REALLY tough monsters," Silica mused.

"The good news if you've faced this level of monster before," Argo pointed out.

"Huh?" Kirito blinked.

It took Asuna a second then she realized what Argo meant, "The Thrymheim castle we beat to get Excalibur."

"Exactly." Argo nodded, "Apparently the general level of monster will be at that level, with the bosses slightly higher."

Sinon groaned dramatically. "Oh that was SUCH a bitch..."

"On the other hand if we do clear it there is going to be some REALLY nice loot to share," Klein noted optimistically.

Youko smiled wryly, "Assuming we live to tell about it."

"There's that," Silica sighed.

Kirito tried to get things back on track as he asked, "Has anyone made any progress mapping out the dungeon?"

Argo produced a scroll from her inventory then spread it out on the table. "I'd estimate they've mapped maybe a quarter of the dungeon," she said as she pointed out what they knew.

"Rock Trolls with high damage and heavy armor right at the enterance? Cardinal is a sadist," Lisbeth noted.

"They also have a decent respawn rate, according to the one crew that made it farthest. They retreated and hit the Trolls AGAIN on the way out," Argo informed them.

"Sadist," Lisbeth repeated, shaking her head.

"There's also a version of Dark Elves, but Norse, not like the ones in old Aincrad," Argo noted. "They are range fighters, so have tanks in front and healing potions handy," Argo pointed to another section slightly farther in.

"I can keep them busy while the rest of the group closes with them," Sinon noted.

"Other than that, there's the usual Minotaur types too. Tough, magic resistant and high damage," Argo pointed at another section.

"Doesn't sound that awful..." Asuna mused.

"It's the fire monsters just after that that has stopped everyone cold, so to speak," Argo noted. "They've killed everyone who's attempted it..."

"Tanks draw their Aggro while everyone else hits them," Klein noted.

"We don't HAVE tanks," Silica sighed.

"Which means it's me and Lis, probably," Klein made a face as he mused. "We'll need to buy upgraded armor."

"Why me?" Lisbeth complained.

"Because your blacksmithing gives you the highest overall strength of the group, other than Kirito. And he can't take a hit worth a damn," Klein noted.

"Hey," Kirito protested mildly.

Asuna smiled wryly, "You DO like a strength and speed/agility build, dear."

Kirito pouted, but couldn't really argue with it.

"One last thing," Argo said. "Lisbeth, you got the Hammer of Thor during the Thrymheim raid. I would suggest equipping it and using it as your primary weapon in the dungeon," she said.

"Because it's from Asgard?" Lisbeth guessed.

"And the monsters in the dungeon are all enemies of Asgard, as far as we can tell. You should get bonuses against them using the hammer," Argo noted. She looked to her side, "Kirito?"

"Yes?" he asked a bit warily.

"I know you don't want to flaunt that you have Excalibur, but I think you should go in there with it equipped and ready," Argo advised. "This is not the time to play 'cool solo player' and hold your best weapon in reserve."

Asuna bit back a chuckle at that.

"Right," Kirito conceded. He blinked, "How did you know about...?"

"I AM an information broker," Argo pointed out. "I may be a bit rusty, but I still have my skills." In fact Andrew had told her, but she wasn't going to tell them that...

Lux looked curious, "Are you coming into the dungeon with us?"

"Oh HELL no," Argo yelped.

Kirito laughed at Lux's startled expression. "Argo very rarely went into dungeons, pretty much only when she absolutely couldn't avoid it," he explained.

"I leave the actual danger to you folks," Argo agreed. She hopped down from her chair as she said briskly, "Okay, I'm going to check to see if anyone else has made a attempt on the dungeon. If I hear anything else I'll let you know."

"For the usual fee," Asuna noted.

"A girl's gotta eat. I put you all back on my friends list, too," Argo added as she trotted away.

Youko watched her go, a slight smile on her face. "What a... interesting young lady," she noted dryly.

It was THAT dry, almost sarcastic comment that made Asuna nearly blurt out 'Mother!'. She looked at the other woman's face and realized the resemblance was clearly there. But what on Earth had caused her serious, work driven mother to create a character in Alfheim Online...?

To be continued...

Notes: Argo the Rat is a character originally introduced in side stories for SAO. She became a regular character in the SAO Progressive series, and has appeared in various SAO video games. Sadly we do NOT know her canon background (yet) so I made something up.


	7. Chapter 4

Sword Art Online III: Asgard

Four

Sinon, the former sniper of Gun Gale online and now bow woman of ALFheim, nodded a greeting to her friends as Argo also arrived. They listened to the briefing on Asgard, including the powerful monsters. The same, interestingly, they had fought in the Thrymheim castle...

Sinon groaned dramatically. "Oh that was SUCH a bitch..."

"On the other hand if we do clear it there is going to be some REALLY nice loot to share," Klein noted optimistically.

Youko smiled wryly, "Assuming we live to tell about it."

"There's that," Silica sighed.

And worse, no one had made much progress on defeating the first floor. The groups that had had shared together the map data, so at least they had THAT. But it was looking grim overall. A few moments later Argo finished up, then headed off.

"All right," Kirito addressed the group, "we have a plan, generally. Klein and Liz with be our tanks, and the group they will be in will draw aggro. The rest of us will attack monsters while they are focused on them."

"We'd better get a LOT of healing potions," Sinon noted. She looked over at the others, "Silica and Asuna can do healing magic, too, I think..."

Asuna had been staring at Youko thoughtfully, but focused back on the meeting when she realized that Sinon was addressing her. "Leafa can too," Asuna nodded, "And I understand Youko has those spells as well."

"Somewhat," Youko answered her politely, "as well as some buff skills. I am still rather inexperienced, though."

"Other than Leafa we all are, in ALO terms," Kirito noted reasonably. He looked over at Liz and Klein, "Do you need funds for the armor upgrades?"

"Should be fine," Klein said, though he gave Liz a chance to contradict him. "You can pay us back out of loot."

"Works," Asuna nodded. "We should probably shop for supplies, then meet up at the new dungeon entrance?"

"Let's do that," Kirito agreed, and with that everyone got up to go.

As Sinon was heading out she saw Asuna excuse herself to Kirito, then chase down the new woman, Youko. 'Wonder what that's about?' she thought.

Potions were less vital in ALO then in other games, as healing was a learnable skill. Saying that, it was often easier to chug a potion than chant a healing spell, and faster too. So Sinon went to one of the game ran shops, and picked up both healing and mana restoration potions.

"Not going to a player shop? Agil will be SO disappointed," Silica teased, the shorter girl also picking up her potions.

"Player run shops vary in price too much," Sinon shrugged.

Silica laughed. Sinon still found it vaguely odd that the younger girl was really her senior in video gaming. Like Kirito she was a Sword Art Online survivor, and had become a well known player in the death game.

(In hanging around Kirito, Asuna and the others, Sinon had noticed a clear difference between the Sword Art Online players and other gamers. Having survived a game where losing meant death, they approached other games with that same intensity. Even the slightly goofy Lux had that... drive.)

"How is your new bow working out?" Silica asked as they headed towards the stairs.

Sinon reached over her shoulder to touch the red and black 'Bow of Elven Accuracy' they had quested for after the Excalibur quest. "It's very good," she nodded. "With the range and accuracy bonuses, I can actually do some sniping with it..." she said.

"You just wish you could bring your rifle into this game," Silica teased.

"Yeah, pretty much," Sinon conceded willingly.

Silica gave her a sympathetic look, "I know how that feels. There was gear in my original Sword Art Online avatar that I wish I still had."

"Because Kirito gave it to you?" Sinon teased, having heard the story of their meeting from others.

"Not JUST for that reason," Silica protested, but she blushed.

Sinon fought back a laugh.

Another thing Sinon had become aware of was the 'harem' that had formed around Kirito. Almost ALL the girls he knew had had a crush on him. Some, she suspected, still did despite his nearly being married to Asuna.

Even KLEIN was supposed to have had a thing. Involving Kirito, a maid outfit and a case of mistaken identity. He pretty much refused to talk about it. Anyway...

Sinon herself had felt a bit of attraction to Kirito, but had decided not to persue it. Both because Kirito was obviously taken, and because she had her own issues. The last guy to be seriously interested in her had lost his grip on reality, after all.

"You okay?" Silica asked, concerned that Sinon had gone silent.

"Sorry, was just thinking about something," Sinon noted.

They reached the opening to the new 'dungeon/stairway' up, the massive stone enterance built into the trunk of the up of blocks of carved stone the enterance was forboding, especially with the sounds of battle going on inside.

"Someone else is taking a turn?" Silica guessed, the two having been the first to arrive.

"Sounds like it," Sinon agreed as Lux and Liz hurried up next.

Liz had traded out her usual light armor for a heavier chest plate and scale armor, along with a large shield that could still be used one handed. In the other she carried the replica Hammer of Thor, the weapon they had gained during Kirito's quest for Excalibur.

"We're not late are we?" the pretty blond Lux asked a bit anxiously.

"It's fine," Silica said, "someone else went in."

Everyone winced as they heard an explosion. "I don't think it's going well." Liz noted.

Kirito arrived next, as Yui fluttered around him. "Ooh, that does NOT sound good," he remarked dryly.

Asuna and Youko arrived, and they looked much more relaxed around each other than earlier. 'I guess they talked about... whatever,' Sinon mused.

Klein was hitting on Leafa as they arrived, and the young lady casually smacked him. "Oh YOU..." she laughed.

"Samurai armor?" Sinon noted Klein's new look.

"Yeah," Klein adjusted the scale type armor, including flared shoulders and leg guards, "I thought about something european, but this is easier to move in."

"No helm though," Leafa observed.

"Who would want to hide this face," Klein beamed.

Everyone just kind of ignored that.

Conversation stopped as the group of five staggered out of the Dungeon. The two 'tanks' were literally still aflame, though the effect cut off once they emerged into daylight. All of them were heavily battered, and while they couldn't see their health bars, everyone could tell they were really low.

"Shiroe," Leafa blinked, recognizing the well known ALO player.

The tall, black haired man smiled back, "Ah, Leafa. I see you're planning to take this on as well."

Behind him the tall warrior Naotsugu was calmly patting the flames out om his cloak and armor. Thankfully it didn't really hurt, and the damage stopped once they were out of the dungeon. "That was WILD," he shook his head wryly.

"Agreed," Nyanta replied, the dapper Cait Sith nodding.

"Did you get any farther...?" Kirito had to address the group.

"Master Shiroe was able to find a way to bypass the fire monsters, and we made it to the floor boss," Akatsuki obseved, the petite swordswoman adding, "sadly we were completely outmatched."

"And we hit the fire monsters on the way out," Shiroe made a face.

'Oooh, ouch,' Sinon winced. "I see you made it out alive though."

"If barely," Nyanta added wryly.

Kirito nodded seriously. "I have to ask.. could we get your map data?" he asked.

Shiroe gave him a look. He CLEARLY knew Kirito's reputation... Finally he nodded, "Certainly. However, in the future I'll want whatever added map data your team generates."

"Agreed," Kirito shook his hand.

Shiroe called up a menu, then accessed the data before printing up a scroll. He passed it over as he said, "Good luck. You're going to need it."

"Thank you," Kirito said, taking the scroll.

"Well, that was encouraging," Sinon noted as the group of adventurers staggered off.

"Just means more loot and rare items for us," Klein blustered.

Sinon just gave him a look.

"Well, we've got to try," Kirito said, an odd determination in his expression.

'He seems more... concerned about this than I'd expect,' Sinon noted. She made a mental note to pull him aside and ask him later.

"All right, ready everyone? Let's go," Kirito said as he led them into the dungeon.

To be continued...

Notes: YES that's the crew from Log Horizon. I wanted someone to go in the Dungeon earlier who was not an existing SAO character, but who were bad-ass enough to survive it. So, them.

Next chapter will HOPEFULLY be a different character POV. Will also try to ignore the usual SAO shipping... instead it will have MY usual shipping. Heh.


	8. SAO Shorts! Akihiko Kayaba was a Dick 2

Akihiko Kayaba was a Dick! Two

Silica looked over at Kirito thoughtfully. In the aftermath of the Gun Gale Online fight, he seemed kind of... at peace with what had happened. Which made her decide to ask him something.

"Kirito-san?" Silica ventured.

"Hmm?" Kirito looked at her curiously.

"There's been something I've been wondering about," Silica admitted. "When you helped me against those player killers, you were so high level they couldn't even hurt you."

"Right," Kirito nodded.

"But when Laughing Coffin became a problem, they were able to kill even front line players," Silica noted. "How? It's not like they could join in on boss battles to level up..."

"Because in Sword Art Online, player killing was one of the most efficient ways to level up," Kirito noted flatly.

"What." Sinon blinked, having also been listening in.

"Yeah," Kirito sighed. "You got twice the experience from player killing versus a similar level monster or NPC."

"And they designed it like that?" Silica demanded.

"Apparently, yes," Kirito sighed.

"Akihiko Kayaba really was a dick," Silica muttered.

To be continued...

Notes: Yeah, short bit.

When Kirito helped Silica against the player killers, the level gap between him as a front line player and them is SO huge they literally can't hurt him.

Yet when the front line players went to stop Laughing Coffin, they were equal levels and were a serious threat. But HOW would PKers be able to level? They can't join in on boss raids or dungeon clearance. They possibly could do some quests and farm monsters, but both activities would be risky if they were spotted and someone went after them.

My only thought is PKing is very rich in experience, once more indicating Kayaba is a dick...


	9. Chapter 5

Sword Art Online: Asgard

Five

Lizbeth took a nervous breath as she studied the stone entrance of the new dungeon. Her new chest plate and scale armor was a bit heavier and more encumbering than she was used to, and she shifted her shoulders to try to get it to settle better.

"All right, ready everyone? Let's go," Kirito said as he led them in.

The rock trolls spawned almost as soon as they entered the room, but they had expected that, Both Klein and Liz launched attacks immediately, drawing the three huge monsters attention. As Liz swung her hammer, she noticed the one visibly recoil.

"They really do not like Mjolnir," Liz noted aloud.

"I'm not doing much damage," Klein complained as he attacked with his katana. It was a powerful quest reward they had all helped him win after the Excalibur quest...

The three trolls roared in anger, attacking with bare fists the size of maces. Liz's shield rang with the heavy blows, and Klein was forced backward a bit. But before they could do too much damage arrows raced by and impailed two of them, fired just seconds apart.

'Sinon is SO cool,' Liz thought admiringly.

Kirito and Asuna raced in, Kirito carrying Excalibur at the ready. Asuna struck with a flurry of rapier strikes, staggering a troll even as Kirito slashed at another. Both trolls' life bars dropped rapidly. Then Kirito started rapidly striking at his target, using that weird 'skill connect' trick he had developed to 'chain' sword skills together.

"One down!" Liz cheered as Kirito's troll died.

Lux and Leafa double teamed another troll, even as Asuna dropped back to cast healing on Kirito after he took a hit. Youko, the newcomer, was casting heal on Liz, as Klein chugged a healing potion. The second Troll's life bar was nearly done, then Lux finished it off with a slicing attack.

"The last troll is going berzerk!" Sinon warned as she fired her bow again from behind.

Indeed, the troll screamed it's fury as it flailed about wildly. Liz yelped as it grabbed onto her shield and bodily tried to rip it off. "A little help, please!" she yelled.

"Pina! Breath attack!" Silica ordered. The mini-dragon Pina got into the troll's face then sprayed, sending the troll reeling backward.

Once it was clear Liz swung Mjolnir again, feeling the heavy weight of the weapon pulled her around a bit. With a crash almost like thunder it rammed into the troll's side, taking out a chunk of stone flesh and dropping it's life bar a lot!

"Hit it again!" Lux yelled.

Liz twisted as she brought the hammer around in a overhead blow then with a loud crash smashed it down on the troll. The power of the blow, coupled with the existing damage, literally cleaved the troll in two! Then, with a rumble, it crumbled to dust.

"Damn," Klein managed tiredly as he caught his breath.

There was a tense moment as they waited for more trolls to pop up, then breathed out relieved sighs when it appeared the battle was over. "Everyone heal up," Kirito ordered. "we need to move on before the trolls re-spawn."

"And give me a chance to cast the buffs," Youko noted wryly.

Liz checked her stats, noting with some surprise how much experience and yrd she had recieved. If they all got shares like this, the quest was sure to be popular. AND she got an new item drop, too. Interesting.

"Valkyrie Armor Chest," Liz murmured aloud and equipped it.

"Eeep!" Silica 'eeped' and turned.

"Whoo!" Leafa blinked.

"It's the mythic Chain Mail Bikini!" Klein cheered.

"ACK!" Liz yelped. The 'Valkyrie Armor' amounted to two metal plates cupping each breast and that was it. She very quickly switched back to her newly bought armor.

"Well, that was interesting," Kirito muttered, blushing.

Liz GLARED at him and Klein. "You didn't see that," she growled, "understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Klein said meekly while Kirito nodded.

"Anyone else get interesting item drops?" Sinon changed the subject.

Liz listened as she examined the bikini with her blacksmith skills. She studied the stats, then cursed softly.

"What?" Lux asked mildly.

"It actually is better armor than my full breastplate," Liz scowled.

"Huh?" Klein blinked.

"LOTS of bonuses. Plus it gives pluses against 'enemies of Asgard.' Well," Liz frowned thoughtfully. She REALLY didn't want to wear something this indecent, but...

"Didn't you get that knight overcoat thing when we quested together? Silica suggested. "You could wear it over that for added coverage."

"That's a idea," Liz agreed. Turning away she equipped the bikini again, then the tabard. Which provided reasonable cover. There was some 'side boob' visible, but she felt mostly decent. And there were no minuses for covering the armor, thankfully.

Klein looked vaguely disappointed.

"Men," Youko sighed.

"Anyway... let's move on," Kirito said briskly.

"Thank you for the buffs," Liz added to Youko as they headed down a stone hallway lit by 'torches.' The icons hovered above her health bar, along with the other members of the team.

"Just trying to help. I'll renew the anti-fire one before we hit the fire giants... hopefully it'll buy us time," Youko noted.

As they walked Liz saw Asuna fussing over Kirito and repressed a flash of annoyance. She KNEW she really shouldn't let it bother her. Heck, they had MARRIED in SAO and later here in ALO. But somehow, the 'crush' she had had on him still lingered a bit.

"According to Argo's map and the data we got from Shiroe, we're coming up to the dark elves. They're swords users, so we should be okay," Kirito said.

"Don't SAY that," Silica groaned.

"We're jinxed," Klein agreed.

Almost as soon as they entered the next chamber, the elves attacked. Both she and Klein deliberately drew attacks, though this time the enemy fought more like other players. The band of ten elves spread out, launching attacks on everyone pretty much.

"Aaaah!" Liz yelled incoherently as she fought a heavily armored elf. The pointy, ominous looking armor was really impractically designed, she noted, but it still survived a blow from her hammer.

"An Asgardian? Here?" the elf demanded, looking at her strangely.

"Just borrowing the gear," Liz replied, swinging at his side while he was distracted. There was a loud 'GONG!' noise, and he went flying.

"Nice!" Klein cheered as he unleashed a fire based special skill on his enemy, sheathing his sword in white hot flame.

"Ewww," Silica noted as the elf was basically sliced in two.

Liz blinked as the elf who had hung back from the battle appeared to cast a healing spell on the one she hammered. "They have healers too?" she noted aloud.

"This is like PvP not usual dungeons," Kirito noted.

"I'll take out the healer," Sinon said as she drew her bow. "Just keep them off me a minute."

Predictably, as soon as Sinon moved to draw the surviving enemies charged. Anticipating this Liz, Klein, Leafa and Youko had pretty much put themselves directly in front of Sinon, but even then they could barely block the charge.

Seizing the opportunity Kirito and Asuna charged in to attack the stragglers, too. Excalibur proved as deadly as ever as Kirito cut two wounded down. Beside him asuna struck with the combo attack 'Mother's Rosary', defeating a nearly uninjured elf.

Muttering a spell under her breath Sinon fired two arrows off in just second, sending them racing across the battlefield. The caster gtried to dodge but both arrows struck home, then shockingly exploded. There was a burst of light and heat, then just smoke wear he had been standing.

"Wow," Liz blinked.

Without support the elves were finished off fairly quickly, and they all recieved more look, yrd and experience. "I didn't get to do much," Silica sighed.

"You back stabbed that one knight like a champ," Leafa reassured her.

"Everyone, heal up," Kirito ordered. "We took more damage this time..."

Liz noted they had taken a LOT more hits in this battle. She chugged down a healing potion, even as the members who could do magic cast healing spells. The chainmail bikini, annoyingly, had taken no hits at all.

"Huh," Asuna noted aloud. "I got a piece of Valkyrie armor. The gauntlets," she informed the group. She looked at Liz, "I'll give them to you."

"You don't have to..." Liz started, but heard a 'ding' notifying her she had received the items. "Next time I get something nice, I'll give it to you," she promised.

"It's fine," Asuna smiled back warmly.

Liz un-equipped the plain gauntlets she had bought with her new armor, and equipped the Valkyrie ones. She immediately noted they were high quality, done in silvery metal and with detailed engraving. They also felt very light, despite going half way up her fore-arms.

"Oooh," Liz exclaimed as she checked her stats.

"What?" Leafa asked curiously as the blonde cast healing spells.

"More bonuses and accuracy boosts," Liz noted. "I like this armor."

"Give me something REALLY nice later," Asuna teased.

"Will do," Liz laughed.

To be continued.

Notes: GOD I suck on fight scenes. Might re-write bits of this later.

I'm trying to get away from the 'harem' bits in SAO too, as much as possible. I know its a popular trope in anime, but in something like SAO it makes very little sense. Canonly, Kirito MARRIED Asuna in-game, for god's sake. The other girls should be moving on.


	10. Interlude: Ordinal Scale and Aftermath

Sword Art Online: Asgard

Interlude: Ordinal Scale and Aftermath

Kirito touched the Augma, the augmented reality headset that had come out not long ago, becoming a huge hit in Japan. He didn't use it much, mostly just to interact with Yui in the real world, as well as deal with some augmented reality features.

Surprisingly, AR was still quite popular, as was Ordinal Scale. One would have expected it all to be shut down after the mess at the last Yuna concert, but what actually happened was covered up. The company behind Augma claimed it was all a surprise event. And people being idiots, they bought it...

As AR took hold, there was a interesting split ongoing in the gaming community. Full Dive players regarded themselves as more 'hardcore' while they regarded the AR users as 'filthy casuals.' While the AR users looked at Full Dive players as dinosaurs embracing old technology. It was a bit like PC vs Console gamers.

Most former SAO players dropped it like a brick, of course. Even poor Eiji, whom had more reasons than most to hold onto it. As far as Kirito knew the man had dropped out of virtual gaming completely. And Yuna...

Well.

In theory Yuna 'died' again shortly after they defeated the final level of Aincrad to get the final sword Kirito needed.

Long story. Anyway...

Everyone saw Yuna vanish. Both her 'street clothes' version and the idol 'Yuuna.' So that should have been it. But people claimed to have seen her in AR... and apparently there were sightings in Aincrad, in the ALO full dive game.

So who knows? Maybe the attempt to make a Yuna AI had succeded. Somewhat.

"Daddy! The others are waiting in the dungeon!" Yui reminded him.

"Sorry, Yui. I got distracted," KIrito apologized. He too off the AR device, lay down on his bed and put the AmuSphere on. "Link Start!" he cried, and was back in the FullDive dungeon...

To be continued...

Notes: FINALLY got to see SAO Ordinal Scale. After some thought I decided to set this fanfiction after the movie, so just assume that in the 'real world' scenes earlier they were wearing the AR glasses.


End file.
